FEATURING IN 2025

Tobias Segura Peralta

Tobias graduated cum laude in 2017 with Jon Thorsteinsson at the Utrecht Conservatory. He is currently coached by Alex Potter and Xenia Meijer. In recent years he has performed as a soloist in Saul by G.F. Händel, the Chichester Psalms by L. Bernstein, the Stabat Mater by G.B. Pergolesi, 72 Angels by L. Auerbach, the Johannes- and Matthäus-Passion by Bach and his Hohe Messe. He also sang the role of Dritte Knabe in a production of Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte at Opera Zuid.

Tobias was seen and heard in the Dutch feature film Zee van Tijd, directed by Theu Boermans and recorded vocals for The Devil Conspiracy by Nathan Frankowski. On TV he appeared in Maestro, Matthijs gaat door and De tiende van Tijl.

In addition to his solo work, he is a much sought-after ensemble singer. He is part of the core of Le Nuove Musiche and Hieronymus Ensemble and is affiliated as a freelancer with the Netherlands Chamber Choir, Cappella Amsterdam, the Choir of the National Opera, the Netherlands Bach Society, Musica Temprana, The Sixteen, La Sfera Armoniosa and Consensus Vocalis.

Next to his singing career, Tobias works as a conductor and vocal coach. We are very lucky to be able to work with this great musician.

Dorine Wiersma

Dorine Wiersma studied classical guitar as a major at the Hilversum Conservatory and then developed as a songwriter via all sorts of interesting detours. She worked with artists of various backgrounds and in 2003 she was a seasoned finalist at the Leiden cabaret festival. That was the turning point for a series of successful solo performances with which she toured theatres throughout the country and received enthusiastic press. In 2009 she won the Annie M.G. Schmidt Prize for the song ‘Stoute Heleen’. In addition to her solo activities, Dorine wrote the weekly theme song for the radio programme Andermans Veren for two seasons and has a teaching practice for guitar and songwriting.

The most appealing songs in this season’s cabaret came from Dorine Wiersma. NRC

A hilarious and recognisable song programme. Scènes

Sharp, well-paced lyrics that are often reminiscent of Annie M.G. Schmidt. Telegraaf

Wiersma’s songs are cleverly constructed. Volkskrant

Mylou Frencken

For years now Mylou Frencken has occupied a unique place in the Dutch cabaret and theatre world. She sings, plays the piano, writes and acts. She works solo and in collaboration with many other artists. Her greatest talent is creating the better Dutch song. In addition, she frequently does presentation work, publishes columns and books and is the singing barmaid in the television quiz Met het Mes op Tafel. Mylou has been nominated several times for the Annie M.G. Schmidt Prize, including for the hilarious song Ze zijn weer thuis.

‘Wonderfully beautiful, from nurturingly intimate to unexpectedly funny.’ – NRC Handelsblad

‘Beautiful song lyrics full of original formulations and vile phrases, and she also knows how to package them in very catchy melodies.’ – De Volkskrant

‘The uncrowned queen of cabaret song.’ – Theaterkrant             

Suzy Dexter

After her voice studies at the Hilversum Conservatory, Suzy participated in several masterclasses with Cathrine Sadolin at the Utrecht Conservatory and studied the Complete Vocal Technique. Since 1999, in addition to her career as a singer-songwriter, she has worked as a singing teacher, both privately and at the Ceres music school in Utrecht. 

Together with producer/guitarist Sander van Herk, she set up her own recording studio in 2005. She wrote and produced 3 English-language CDs: On The Moon 2004, Lost Track Of Time 2009, and Journey to the end of the night 2014. With her band, Suzy & The Rangers, she received a lot of airplay with her 2 singles, Stop telling me and Space Repetition. A new album was about to be released when Suzy had a serious accident in 2017. After that difficult period she slowly but steadily started building a Dutch-language oeuvre. The album Alles Veranderd was released in May 2023. Nowadays however, Suzy has her rock band the Rangers back together and the first English-language recordings have already been made. This year will be the fourth year Suzy will participate in the popweek, where she will give individual singing lessons during the course and support us with her beautiful voice and crafty guitar in all musical activities.

Jorge Martina

Jorge Martina (Medellin, Colombia 1963) studied singing with Leny Stappers and Jeanne Companjen and followed master classes with mezzo-soprano Marion van den Akker (wife of pianist Rian de Waal). As a lyric tenor, Jorge has performed extensively in Colombia, Curaçao, Aruba, France, Italy and Poland.

He also performed a lot in the Netherlands: in the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, he sang works by Mexican composer Tata Nacho, Argentinian composers Carlos Gardel and Alberto Ginastera, Italian composer Francesco Paolo Tosti and French composer Jules Massenet, among others. Jorge often performed as a soloist in the Missa Criolla and the Navidad Nuestra by the Argentinean composer Ariel Ramirez (1921-2010) and collaborated with the Cuban pianist Gustavo Corrales Romero. He gave several performances accompanied by his brother Harold and his brother Jaime, with the well-known  Antillean pianist Wim Statius Muller, the Italian pianist Paolo Francese and with his father, the late pianist Stanley Martina.

In the past two years, Jorg, his brother Jaime and his cousin Juliana (who graduated cum laude from Codarts) and a piano trio (pianist Ilja Huang, violinist Inge Laurijssens and cellist Mariette Landheer), performed some unique programs in Amsterdam and The Hague on classical music from the Caribbean and Latin America, in the context of the Palm Music Foundation, which aims to promote the awareness of classical Caribbean and Latin American piano, chamber and orchestral music. Jorge has developed a very versatile repertoire influenced by European as well as Latin American and Antillean composers, and we are very pleased to be able to work with him on this repertoire.

Monneke Peters 

“Of course, if I’d want to, there is the possibility of retiring. But I can’t help it. Cooking is still my favorite activity (besides good dining and a few other things that are not relevant here).

After years of cooking as a hobby and working as a (food) stylist, I decided to set up Tapassionata in 2001. The Mediterranean cuisine became my source of inspiration, with, as far as my culinary sphere of influence, the boundaries increasingly moving east and south over the years.

I started out mainly with Spanish, Italian and French dishes, but my interest soon expanded to Moorish, Moroccan and Turkish cuisine. In recent years, my preference has been strongly “Ottolenghified”. It’s great that there are so many countries around the Mediterranean!

In general, I don’t use many recipes to the letter, but I read cookbooks like novels and distill from them what flavors and textures I want to use. The visual aspect is certainly not unimportant.

Cooking at Maria’s is wonderful, together with sous-chef Tamar de Kemp, in the outdoor kitchen, walking into the garden to pick flowers, vegetables and herbs. Discussing with the neighbour who slaughters 2 of his rabbits for the final buffet (sorry vegetarians, there is enough for you too), the baker who brings fresh bread in the morning, a trip to the winemaker in Coiffy-le-Haut; I am already looking forward to it.”